Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Drew Smyly is relieved by manager Brad Ausmus during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals in Detroit, Wednesday, June 18, 2014. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Tigers’ manager Brad Ausmus had a very bad moment following his club’s 2-1 loss to Kansas City Thursday.

He was asked how he dealt with his team’s consistent losing.

Ausmus said, “I beat my wife.”

It was an unfortunate choice of words, said jokingly and sarcastically.

There is nothing funny about spousal abuse. Ausmus understands that, and caught himself. He quickly and sincerely apologized.

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Although outside the context of the field, it was another example of how wrong it is going for the Tigers.

They were 29-12. They had a 7-game lead in the American League Central. A month later, they are 36-32, no longer in first place and have been destroyed by the Royals in the first three games of this four-game series.

Now, their Ivy League-educated manager inserted his foot directly into his mouth in front of a couple dozen people in an interview room.

What else can go wrong?

Baseball seasons have an unpredictable ebb and flow. The Tigers, thought by many to be prohibitive favorites to win the World Series, had obvious flaws even as they rolled through Major League Baseball the first six weeks of the season.

The Tigers lack of left-handed hitting and a dreadful bullpen certainly haven’t helped during this slide, but it’s the strengths that have become weaknesses that have really hurt.

This week was set up perfectly for triumph, their aces on the hill. Then, Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer turned in back-to-back utterly awful outings, literally among the worst of their careers.

The Tigers are swinging at bad pitches early in counts. Their pitchers are falling behind in counts. Right there, tilts the odds.

But it should not be happening. The Tigers are, for the most part, a veteran team. And it hasn’t, really, been their younger players at fault. Actually, rookies Nick Castellanos, J.D. Martinez and Eugenio Suarez have performed well. Drew Smyly gave the Tigers an outstanding start Wednesday – the type expected from Verlander and Scherzer

This isn’t just on Verlander, Scherzer and struggling veteran closer Joe Nathan, though.

It goes pretty far down the line with the Tigers. Torii Hunter has a pulled hamstring, but he was not performing well at the plate or defensively when injured. Austin Jackson an Alex Avila have provided limited contributions. Rajai Davis and Ian Kinsler have cooled off after hot starts.

Ausmus said he isn’t going to do anything, “radical.”

“I can say from being a player, you can lose some players (doing that).

“There is a ton of baseball left. Not only are we not out of it, we’re in the thick of it.”

The unfortunate joke by Ausmus about beating his wife symbolized rock bottom for the Tigers, even though they are technically only 1 1-2 games off the lead in the AL Central.

If there is a huge fire storm about the off-the-cuff joke by Ausmus, there shouldn’t be.

He clearly didn’t mean it the way it looks just in the stark, black and white context of written words, which suggest horror rather than humor. Ausmus was clearly flustered after he said it and did apologize without being prodded into it.

In the bigger picture, though, it was last thing he or the Tigers’ need.